Recent reporting shows 3.5M people in the U.S. now work in clean energy. The industry added ~150,000 new jobs in 2023––that’s double the rate of overall job growth in the country. There’s no question federal clean energy policy is to thank. In just two years, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), has scaled solar panel production in the U.S. from 8 to 30 gigawatts, and has generated more than $387 billion for the U.S. economy.
What’s particularly interesting is that an estimated 36% of these new jobs and 60% of this investment is going to communities in the South. This caught my attention since SOLARCYCLE’s facilities are in Arizona, Texas, and Georgia, where we are seeing the effects of successful clean energy policy firsthand.
In 2023, we expanded our flagship location in Odessa, Texas, bolstered by a surge in solar construction and onshoring of panel manufacturing from clean energy tax credits. This year, we opened our research and development lab in Mesa, Arizona, with a $1.5M grant from the Department of Energy through the IRA. In February we announced a first-of-its-kind $344 million solar glass manufacturing facility in Cedartown, GA, responding to continued demand for home-grown solar materials. $64M of that total will be directly covered by these clean energy tax credits.
Across the board, we’re seeing record demand for our low-carbon domestic glass from manufacturers and installers hoping to take advantage of the policy’s tax incentives for domestic content. By harvesting valuable materials from end-of-life solar modules, SOLARCYCLE is providing manufacturers with domestic material for American-made modules and closing the solar supply chain loop. Not only does this significantly reduce the climate impacts of making solar, but it also creates good jobs in areas that need it.
When we announced our Cedartown factory in partnership with Georgia Governor Kemp, we knew we would be playing a part in reversing decades of offshoring. For years, a leading textile manufacturer and fixture of the region’s “Carpet Capitol” occupied our location. When the factory shuttered, over 100 residents were left without work––a big blow to a community of 10,000. We’ve committed to creating more than 1200 jobs in Cedartown, including apprenticeship positions to provide on-the-job training. Overall, we employ over 150 hardworking Americans today and expect to employ more than ten times that amount by the end of the decade.
SOLARCYCLE’s growth is just one example of recent success for American solar. That said, it’s no secret the U.S. has miles to go before we dominate clean energy manufacturing globally. But so far, current policy leadership from the Biden-Harris administration and states like GA has been incredibly effective at catalyzing a true domestic solar manufacturing economy, bringing a new generation of manufacturing jobs to communities across the country, and propelling the country forward toward its climate targets. We must continue to support successful federal policy if we care about clean energy, climate change, national security, and domestic manufacturing.
